


In My Veins

by Moody_Akira



Series: The Ricochet Theory [3]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, implied self harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 06:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4555005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moody_Akira/pseuds/Moody_Akira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathan has been dating Max Caulfield for a couple months, but he can never show himself to her because of how hideous he can be underneath all those layers</p>
            </blockquote>





	In My Veins

**Author's Note:**

> A break from smut. But there's gonna be some. I guarantee it.

It had been three months since Nathan and Max started dating. He had been trying to recover from his whole ordeal with Jefferson that happened exactly a year ago. Nathan had went to a hospital to help with his mental anguish and Max visited him everyday.

At first, he was offensive, rude, and standoffish with her. But as she kept visiting him, he grew to like her company.

She would stay with him and crack jokes with him. She brought over books that he heard her talk about so that she could read to him. He liked hearing her soothing soft voice.

So much so, it lulled him to sleep once whens she was reading the The Princess Bride.

He complained how much of a dick Prince Humperdink was in the book.

“He’s more of a jerk in the movie,” she replied, turning the page.

His big slate blue eyes widened and he put his hand over hers.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me there was a movie??”

Max began to laugh. “You have to wait until I’m finished with the book, you dork.”

Nathan began to pout and he began to hold her hand from his hospital bed. He squeezed gently. He began to blush a bright red when she squeezed back. “I’m not going yet Nathan,” Max said softly, comforting him.

“Y’know Max? When I get discharged from this whacko place, you think we can hangout like this again?” Nathan asked, turning on his side to admire the girl with sky blue eyes.

She was actually really cute when she was reading to him. Her eyes were focused on the thin pages between her slender fingers. He could count every freckle on her cheeks. Nathan even wondered what her hair felt like running through his own fingers.

Nathan Prescott had a crush on Maxine Caulfield. A big giant and stupid crush on the girl he swore he hated in school. And here he was, wanting to be held by her.

“What are you talking about, Nate? Of course we can,” Max responded. She bookmarked their page and looked him in his stormy blue eyes.

It was then that she realised how handsome he really was. His eyes seemed endless to her. His hair right now was a mess since he had been in the hospital for so long but she wanted to run her fingers through his hair and just cuddle with him. He was lonely.

And he’d never admit it out loud, but he always practically begged her to not leave him once the visiting hours were over. He almost picked a fight with one of the nurses that told her to leave the other week. Nathan smiled.

For the first time in months, he actually smiled for real.

“Well, Max. As soon as I am out of these stupid fucking hospital gowns, I’ll be right at your front door expecting to watch The Princess Bride with you. You can count on that.

Since Nathan was discharged, he visited her every day, wanting to hear her voice, wanting to hold her hand and intertwine his fingers with his. He thought nothing of them holding hands since she was his emotional support. She kept him from going back to the darkest places of his mind. Max kept him breathing some days. She went with him to his therapy sessions and held his hand, squeezing tightly. Nathan held her hand no matter what the situation was. She held his hand during movies, while reading to him, in his therapy sessions, and on drives back to her house from getting sandwiches or chicken nuggets.

But one thing he needed to keep from her was something that would inevitably break her heart.

It was why he always wore his jackets or long sleeved shirts. He wore some kind of long sleeved shirt or jackets that covered his arms. He never wore shorts either.

He had some bad habits that he could never seem to break, like smoking cigarettes, but Max never minded them.

The nicotine rushing through him was something he found comforting.The smell, the taste. It was like home. A home he never had the luxury of having. He had a the biggest house imaginable but it never felt like home. But he had to keep himself covered around her.

And when they started dating, it became problematic as well as blissful. She would want him to take off his jacket and snuggle with him. She would give him the softest of kisses and it soothed him. Her caresses felt like butterflies wings on his skin.

But he could never show her. That is, until they became more intimate together. He would stay at her house until two in the morning, laughing about stupid jokes, or talking about the world around them. He would always kiss her tenderly, but he had his bursts of neediness.

He once pinned her to her bed and kissed her with a fervor she never knew he had in him. His fire was lighting back up again. Nathan would be unstoppable with her. He was falling in love with her.

Nathan even thought about seeing her when he woke up in the morning, moving her soft chesnut locks away from her delicate face.

Alas, he was ashamed of his body.

It was...marred and disgusting. Every day when he got dressed in the morning, all he saw was his ribs and scarred arms and legs. Too skinny.

Marked with thousands of horizontal slashes across his arms and his thighs and legs. He wanted to claw at his skin. He was hideous.

Why did Max tell him he was so handsome every time she kissed him and moved her hands over his chest? She didn't know what he hid under all those fucking layers that he was boiling under. As soon as she saw them, she would running away from him. She would never want to touch him. She would never want to him again.

However. One night, things got more...out of control than usual. Nathan was in his last shirt and Max was in her panties and tank top, kissing deeply on her bed.

And as she reached at the hem of his shirt, Nathan jolted back, panicking.

"Nathan are you alright? Did I hurt you?" Max asked concerned. Worry filled those big blue eyes and she held his hand tightly.

Nathan shook his head. "I just...I don't want you to see me. I don't...I'm not..." Max pulled him into a tender kiss and caressed his cheek.

"Nathan I love you. If you want to stop we can stop," she assured him. She kissed his forehead lightly and Nathan felt tears prick his eyes.

"I do want you. But I'm not...attractive under my clothes..." He said quietly, averting her gaze.

"Nathan..."

He sighed deeply. Building his courage, he lifted his shirt off and turned on the light. Nathan was met with an audible gasp from the girl he loved.

"There's more than that. All over my thighs." His voice sounded humiliated. "I'm disgusting."

Max's eyes filled with tears and he grasped his arm and began to kiss over his scars. Each and every one of them. Tears spilled over her blue reservoirs as she kissed his arms, whispering _I love you._

Nathan just stared at her. Watching her kiss his arms and moving his pants down warmed him.

"Max, I--"

"I love you so much, Nathan. You'll always be beautiful to me," she whispered in his arms.

His heart almost stopped. He...he was beautiful?

No...he couldn't be. Not with all those scars.

Her hands moved over his stomach, over his ribs which he hated so much, and to his chest, feeling his heart beat in his chest. Their eyes met. Her baby blues were glassy from crying, but she smiled.

"You are so beautiful, Nathan." His heart thud in his chest. Nathan wrapped his arms around her back and kissed her lovingly.

And for the first time in his life, he believed he wasn't disgusting. No. He was beautiful to her. And that was all that mattered.


End file.
